You’ve seen favicons thousands of times — even if you’ve never heard the word.

They’re the tiny icons that appear:

• In browser tabs

• In bookmarks

• On mobile home screens

• In some search results

They’re small, but they quietly affect how professional your website looks.

If your favicon is blurry, missing, or just the default WordPress icon, it sends an unspoken message:

This site isn’t quite finished.

Here’s what favicons are, why they matter, and how to make sure yours actually works.

What is a favicon?

A favicon is a small version of your logo or brand mark used to represent your website in browsers and devices.

It helps with:

• Brand recognition

• Trust

• Usability (people find your tab faster)

• Professional polish

Even though it’s tiny, it’s part of your overall brand system.

Why favicons often look bad

Favicons usually look wrong for one of three reasons:

1. The logo wasn’t designed for small sizes

Detailed logos with:

• Thin lines

• Small text

• Complex shapes

Don’t scale down well.

What looks great on a website header can become an unreadable blob in a 16×16 pixel icon.

2. The wrong file format is used

If your favicon is created from:

• A low-quality JPEG

• A stretched PNG

• A screenshot of your logo

It will almost always look soft or pixelated.

This is another place where vector logos make a huge difference.

3. It wasn’t set up properly

Many sites:

• Don’t set a favicon at all

• Use the theme default

• Upload a random image without proper sizes

That leads to inconsistent results across browsers and devices.

The right way to create a favicon

Start with a vector logo

Your favicon should be based on a clean vector version of your logo.

This allows you to:

• Export sharp versions at multiple sizes

• Simplify the design if needed

• Maintain brand consistency

If your logo only exists as a JPEG or PNG, that’s usually the root of the problem.

Create a simplified version if needed

For many businesses, the full logo doesn’t work at favicon size.

A better option is often:

• An initial

• A symbol

• A simplified mark

This gives you a favicon that’s:

• Recognisable

• Clean

• Legible at tiny sizes

Export the correct sizes

Modern favicons use multiple sizes for:

• Desktop browsers

• Mobile devices

• App shortcuts

A proper setup includes several exports so your icon looks sharp everywhere.

Why this matters for your website

Favicons are a small thing — but they’re a trust signal.

They affect:

• How professional your site feels

• How easy it is for users to find your tab

• How consistent your branding looks

When someone has 20 tabs open, a clear favicon makes your site easier to return to.

That’s a tiny usability win that adds up.

How this connects to logo file formats

If you’ve read about JPEG vs vector logos, favicons are a perfect real-world example of why vectors matter.

Without proper logo files:

• Favicons look blurry

• Branding becomes inconsistent

• Small details break

Favicons expose file format problems faster than almost anything else on a website.